Rudolf I, Holy Roman Emperor
| birth_place = Frankfurt, Holy Roman Empire | death_date = | death_place = Lavello, Basilicata | burial_place = Messina Cathedral | religion = Roman Catholicism }} Conrad III ( ; ; ; 25 April 1239 – 21 May 1295), nicknamed "the Pious", was inherited the Duchy of Swabia in 1235, was King of the Romans in 1270 to 1272, elected Holy Roman Emperor and King of Italy (as Conrad III) from 1272 to his death. He is also crowned King of Sicily (as Conrad I). He was not as popular but Conrad had indeed relationship with surrounded monarchs and Imperial citizens and Prince-electors. Conrad was the elder son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV (1209–1274) and Bartilmebis of Arce. During the reign of his father, Conrad was into the Italian campaign in 1250, but the struggle with the pope continued. Having been defeated by William in 1251, Conrad decided to invade Italy, hoping to regain the rich dominions of his father, and where his brother Manfred acted as vicar. At age of 25, he remained loyal throughout the subsequent armed conflict, known as the Duke's War of 1264, a civil war broke out within the Holy Roman Empire, just a few months after the same civil war in England. Both Charles IV and Conrad escaped as Frederick took Nuremberg, but on 21 June 1264, the Imperial army re-took the capital from Frederick. Conrad took command in the Imperial army on 1 September 1265, and lead their army to attempted took re-take Baden, but successful. Conrad was wounded and escaped at the Battle of Straßburg on 1266, Frederick was defeated by Charles IV for first time at the Battle of Limburg in winter of 1267; but following year Charles and Conrad defeated Frederick at Wurzburg. After the battle, Frederick was captured and trial for treason by Charles IV, but Frederick forced to exile, with the ended with the Treaty of Nördlingen. After some after, Conrad took the crusader cross in 1270 in the Holy Land with his cousin Edward. Conrad stopped the crusade, with ongoing with his cousin Edward, when Conrad heard the news of his father's series of abdications, indeed the favorite abdicated the Imperial throne, he then returned to Holy Roman Empire, and himself and candidate of the imperial election. Soon after the election, Frederick of Lorraine, which he failed lead and lost, and Alfonso X dropped out. Conrad was elected and succeeded by his father on 7 June 1272 with five electoral votes, which Frederick got one electoral vote and defeated. During his reign, Conrad was the first physically and mentally healthy ruler of the Holy Roman Empire ever to be deposed without a papal excommunication. He was the second in the succession of so-called count-kings of several rivalling comitial houses striving after the Roman-German royal dignity. At age 30, he was crowned King of Sicily on 13 March 1272, a month later, he was crowned the Holy Roman Emperor, King of Germany on 4 April and King of Italy on 1 July. He is continuing the war in 1279 with his father, Charles IV in Poland with Leszek II the Black but the war ended; two years later in 1281. He is struggled the war with the Kingdom of Bohemia with Wenceslaus II in the years of 1285 to his death. He is also famous for his good personality in wars, internal policies and more. On 1291, the 49 year-old Conrad allied with English king and cousin, Edward I of England and against the French king Philip IV of France. Meanwhile in the Holy Roman Empire, Rudolf I of Germany died, aged 73. Conrad regained the kingship but given the title to Ulrich von Liechtenstein Conrad was able to defend his realm and make it somewhat more cohesive, but he could not conquer the major part of Hungary. His flexible approach to Imperial problems, mainly religious, finally brought more result than the more confrontational attitude of his brother. On his death bed on 21 May 1295, aged 56 in Basilicata when he was still at war with first Italian feudal lord, Adalberto Boccanegra. He was succeeded by his younger brother, Ulrich von Liechtenstein as Otto V; Ulrich resign his Kingship to Rudolf of Habsburg in 1276. His body was travelling and was buried in Aachen Cathedral in the Holy Roman Empire. Childhood Early years Conrad III was born on 25 April 1239, He was the eldest son of Emperor Charles IV and Bartilmebis of Arce, the queen regnant of Jerusalem. Born in Frankfurt, in the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, his mother died while giving birth to him and he succeeded her as monarch of the Crusader state of Jerusalem. By his father, Conrad was the grandson of the Hohenstaufen emperor Henry VI and great-grandson of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. He lived in Southern Italy until 1235, when he first visited the Kingdom of Germany. During this period his kingdom of Jerusalem, ruled by his father as regent through proxies, was racked by the civil War of the Lombards until Conrad declared his majority and his father's regency lost its validity. Rise to power When Emperor Frederick II deposed his eldest son, Conrad's rebellious half-brother King Henry (VII), Conrad succeeded him as Duke of Swabia in 1235. However, the emperor was not able to have him elected King of the Romans until the 1237 Imperial Diet in Vienna. This title, though not acknowledged by Pope Gregory IX, presumed his future as a Holy Roman Emperor. Prince-Archbishop Siegfried III of Mainz, in his capacitiy as German archchancellor, acted as regent for the minor until 1242, when Frederick chose Landgrave Henry Raspe of Thuringia, and King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia to assume this function. Conrad intervened directly in German politics from around 1240. However, when Pope Innocent IV imposed a papal ban on Frederick in 1245 and declared Conrad deposed, Henry Raspe supported the pope and was in turn elected as anti-king of Germany on 22 May 1246. Henry Raspe defeated Conrad in the battle of Nidda in August 1246, but died several months later. He was succeeded as anti-king by William of Holland. Also in 1246, Conrad married Elisabeth of Bavaria, a daughter of Otto II Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria. They had a son *Conradin, in 1252. In 1250 Conrad settled momentarily the situation in Germany by defeating William of Holland and his Rhenish allies. Crown Prince and Italian Campaign When Frederick II died in the same year, his father, Charles IV become elect-King of Germany and become the Holy Roman Emperor in 1227, as well as the title of Jerusalem, to Conrad, but the struggle with the pope continued. Having been defeated by William in 1251, Conrad decided to invade Italy, hoping to regain the rich dominions of his father, and where his brother Manfred acted as vicar. In January 1252 he invaded Apulia with a Venetian fleet and successfully managed to restrain Manfred and to exercise control of the country. In October 1253 his troops conquered Naples. Conrad was however not able to subdue the pope's supporters, and the pope in turn offered Sicily to Edmund Crouchback, son of Henry III of England (1253). Conrad was excommunicated in 1254 and died of malaria in the same year at Lavello in Basilicata.Conrad IV, Daniel R. Sodders, Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia, Vol. I, ed. Christopher Kleinhenz, (Routledge, 2004), 510. Manfred first, and later Conrad's son Conradin, continued the struggle with the Papacy, although unsuccessfully. Military career Civil war of 1264 The years of 1264 to 1269, the civil war was known as the Duke's War of 1264, when Duke of Lorraine Frederick III claim to the Imperial throne from Kaiser. Frederick fought against those who remained loyal to the Kaiser Charles IV. He later saw when Walram, Count of Jülich sided with the rebels. With the support of his friend, Otto III, Margrave of Brandenburg, he and Conrad defeated Walram of Jülich at the Battle of Den Bosch. With Frederick took Nuremberg and claim it as his capital with the help of his borans subjects. On 21 June 1264, Charles's army with loyal subjects re-took Nuremberg, in few months after Frederick took Nuremberg from Charles. While Frederick failed to take Frankfurt, which Charles told Conrad to re-take München on August 1264. Frederick also took Leipzig, Mariendorf and Koln. Conrad, Charles and Otto III, Margrave of Brandenburg defeated Baron Rudolf of Baden at the Battle of Zürch in 1265. On 1 September 1265, Conrad was giving the command of the Imperial army by his father, Charles IV. He gather his army and lead their army to attempted took re-take Baden, leading a successful, but lost a lot of men up to 150,000 men. Charles and Conrad heard the news that Simon de Montfort was killed by his brother's loyal men at the Battle of Evesham. Now, Henry and his son, Edward requested Charles for the assistance, which Charles agreed. Henry and Edward took 500,000 men each and travel to Frankfurt. Now in England, Henry III with his son, Edward, later Edward I supporting Charles and land on the shores in Holy Roman Empire. Both Charles and Henry III with Edward meet at the shores, he accepted Henry's support. Both English and Imperial armies rode and re-claim the territories of Leipzig, Mariendorf and Koln with the help of his royal friend, Margrave Otto III and in the name of Kaiser Charles IV. Frederick turns to Charles's rival, Bolesław V the Chaste in Poland to gain the Imperial throne from Charles, which Bolesław refused to do. Prince Conrad was wounded at the Battle of Straßburg on 1266, but Conrad managed to the escaped, as well he retired as command of the Imperial army and give to his friend, Margrave Otto of Brandenburg. His father captured Ludwig of Leipzing and put him on trail for treason which King Béla IV helping Charles. His father, Charles IV defeated Frederick but manage to escaped at the Battle of Limburg in winter of 1268. Frederick and Charles fighting at the Battle of Wurzburg, Charles was managed to defeated Frederick for the second time and Frederick was forced to exile on 2 March 1269. The remaining rebel borans are put in trail for treason which some of the barons want to remaining and go back to the royalty which his father and Conrad's accepted. Eighth Crusade A months later, King Louis IX of France launched a crusade by permission of Archbishop Teobaldo Visconti (later Pope Gregory X). But despite the failure of the Seventh Crusade, which ended in the capture of King Louis by the Mamluks, the King did not lose interest in crusading. He continued to send financial aid and military support to the settlements in Outremer from 1254 to 1266. While the "crusade" of the King's brother Charles of Anjou against the Hohenstaufen Kingdom of Sicily occupied Papal attention for some years, the advance of Baibars in Syria during the early 1260s became increasingly alarming to Christendom. The War of Saint Sabas between Genoa and Venice had drawn in the Crusader States and depleted their resources and manpower. The exhausted settlements were systematically overrun by the methodical campaigns of Baibars. By 1265, he had raided Galilee and destroyed the cathedral of Nazareth, captured Caesarea and Arsuf and temporarily took Haifa. In late 1266, Louis informed Pope Clement IV that he intended to go on crusade again. King Louis IX formally took the cross on 24 March 1267 at an assembly of his nobles. The response was less enthusiastic than to his calling of the Seventh Crusade in 1248, although its unpopularity may have been exaggerated by his chronicler Jean de Joinville, who was personally opposed to the venture. The crusade was set to sail from Aigues-Mortes in early summer 1270 in Genoese and Marseillois shipping. Prince Conrad was given a army by Constable Johann II von Isenburg, who was friend of Kaiser Charles IV. Early reign 1272 Imperial election and Emperorship When his father, Charles IV favorite voluntary abdicated in 15 February 1272 when he having health issues. Conrad III succeeded him, on 13 March 1272, he was crowned King of Sicily. During the 1272 Imperial election, the main candidates were Conrad, his rival, Frederick of Lorraine; who been defeated in the 1264-67 Civil war and Prince Sancho of Castile and León (later Sancho IV). While he was King of Sicily, Conrad was in debated both his father's rival and Prince Sancho to a heated debated. Conrad was supported by the House of Plantagenet faction and its monarch such as Conrad's cousin, King Edward I of England, Afonso III, King of Portugal, Alfonso X, King of Castile and Pope Gregory X of the Papal States. Frederick of Lorraine has been supported by the Kingdom of Poland; which given Frederick's only supporter. Within the few weeks, Conrad was received 5 votes from the Prince-electors; Frederick had only 1 vote, and Sancho had 4 voted. On 4 April, Conrad elected and succeeded his father, Charles IV on the Imperial throne, he crowned Holy Roman Emperor in Frankfurt on 12 August 1272, elect-King of the Romans in Aachen Cathedral on 3 January 1273 and King of Italy in Rome on 11 October 1275. When Stephen V of Hungary's death, his son Ladislaus IV of Hungary become King of Hungary on 1272. Conrad III visit the young King Ladislaus V to become allies. Both Hungary and the Holy Roman Empire and been allies, but it will not participate in any wars. When his father's death on 19 September 1274, aged 64 in London, Conrad asked his cousin, Edward I of England to be buried in Westminster Abbey, which Edward accepted. War with Ottokar II of Bohemia In November 1274, the Imperial Diet at Nuremberg decided that all Crown estates seized since the death of the Emperor Frederick II must be restored, and that King Ottokar II must answer to the Diet for not recognising the new king. Ottokar refused to appear or to restore the duchies of Austria, Styria and Carinthia together with the March of Carniola, which he had claimed through his first wife, a Babenberg heiress, and which he had seized while disputing them with another Babenberg heir, Margrave Hermann VI of Baden. Rudolf refuted Ottokar's succession to the Babenberg patrimony, declaring that the provinces reverted to the Imperial crown due to the lack of male-line heirs. King Ottokar was placed under the imperial ban; and in June 1276 war was declared against him. Having persuaded Ottokar's former ally Duke Henry XIII of Lower Bavaria to switch sides, Rudolf compelled the Bohemian king to cede the four provinces to the control of the royal administration in November 1276. Rudolf then re-invested Ottokar with the Kingdom of Bohemia, betrothed one of his daughters to Ottokar's son Wenceslaus II, and made a triumphal entry into Vienna. Ottokar, however, raised questions about the execution of the treaty, made an alliance with some Piast chiefs of Poland, and procured the support of several German princes, again including Henry XIII of Lower Bavaria. To meet this coalition, Rudolf formed an alliance with King Ladislaus IV of Hungary and gave additional privileges to the Viennese citizens. On 26 August 1278, the rival armies met at the Battle on the Marchfeld, where Ottokar was defeated and killed. The March of Moravia was subdued and its government entrusted to Rudolf's representatives, leaving Ottokar's widow Kunigunda of Slavonia in control of only the province surrounding Prague, while the young Wenceslaus II was again betrothed to Rudolf's youngest daughter Judith. Cooperation of England and Hungary Like his father Conrad manage to have a good relationship with his cousin, Edward I of England. Upon cooperation to England which Edward and Conrad makes a alliance peace treaty that will unbreakable. Conrad met Edward in London on 24 March 1275. Conrad and Edward was make a trade treaty between the Holy Roman Empire and England, which Edward's war in Wales which supported by Conrad. In Hungary, he met Ladislaus IV of Hungary on February 1277, but when the Golden Horde's second invasion of Hungary, which Ladislaus IV sent a letter to Conrad III to help. Conrad III agreed and sent military help into Hungary. War with Leszek II the Black Upon Leszek II the Black becomes High Duke of Poland on 1279, Leszek's opinions on making peace with the Holy Roman Empire were wrong. Since twenty-one years, both Holy Roman Empire and Poland make long-lasting peace. Leszek declared war on Conrad III; which broke the treaty in 1258. Leszek II gather his army and march to the Empire, Conrad's response was to march his army and met Leszek army at the Battle of Spandau on 2 March 1279, which the only battle in the war. Conrad's army crushed Leszek's army and both Conrad and Leszek made peace on 4 September this year. Frederick, Duke of Lorraine's Comeback After Conrad and his father Charles IV defeated Frederick in 1264 Civil war, which forced Frederick into exile. Frederick made a comeback in the Holy Roman Empire in 1279, five years after Conrad's father death in 1274. Frederick's legitimate claim to the Imperial throne since 1264. Both Conrad and his father are pro-peace monarchs, while Frederick was pro-war and wants to conqueror. Frederick was also made allies with Conrad's rival the Kingdom of Poland. Leszek II the Black's army re-took Wrocław on 1 June 1279. One of the famous German generals, Rudolf I of Habsburg died on 8 June 1279, which marks the one of the mourns of the rest of the Empire. Conrad made allies with his cousin, Edward I of England, at the Battle of Aachen with 5-4. After the loss of Nürnberg in 1281 and the Holy Roman Empire re-took Nürnberg a year later in 1282. On 1 February 1283, Frederick assassinated in his rebel capital of Köln by his own guards. With the civil war at the end, it will be loyalty among the German subjects. Until on 1531, 248 years later, the Schmalkaldic League against the Empire under the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Sicilian Vespers But Michael had not been working upon the military front alone. Many Ghibelline officials had fled the Kingdom of Sicily to the court of Peter III of Aragon, who had married Constance, the daughter and heir of Manfred. Manfred's former chancellor, John of Procida, had arranged contact between Michael, Peter and the refugees at his court, and conspirators on the island of Sicily itself. Peter began to assemble a fleet at Barcelona, ostensibly for another Crusade to Tunis. In fact, the master-plan of John of Procida was to place Peter on the throne of Sicily, his Hohenstaufen inheritance. The result was the uprising known as the Sicilian Vespers, which was initiated in Palermo on 29 March 1282. It rapidly grew into a general massacre of the French in Sicily. A few officials notable for their good conduct were spared, and the city of Messina still held for Charles. But through the diplomatic errors of Charles' vicar, Herbert of Orléans, Messina, too, revolted on 28 April 1282. Herbert retreated to the castle of Mategriffon, but was forced to abandon the Crusader fleet, which was burnt. The news surprised Peter of Aragon, who had expected to intervene only after Charles had left for Constantinople. But the conspirators, aided by Emperor Michael (who wished to see Charles balked in his expedition), had set the revolt in motion early. Peter did not immediately intervene; he sailed with the fleet to Tunis, where he discovered that the would-be convert on whose behalf the Crusade had ostensibly been undertaken had been caught and executed. While he bided his time, the Sicilians made an appeal to Pope Martin to take the Communes of their cities under his protection. But Martin was far too deeply committed to Charles and French interests to heed them; instead, he excommunicated the rebels, Emperor Michael, and the Ghibellines in north Italy. Charles gathered his forces in Calabria, landed near Messina, and began a siege. Several attempts to assault the city were unsuccessful. Rejected by the Pope, the Sicilians now appealed to King Peter and Queen Constance; he duly accepted, and landed at Trapani on 30 August 1282. He was proclaimed king in Palermo on 4 September, but as the archibishopric of Palermo was vacant, he could not immediately be crowned. In the face of the Aragonese landing, Charles was compelled to withdraw across the Straits of Messina into Calabria in September, but the Aragonese moved swiftly enough to destroy part of his army and most of his baggage. The Angevin house was forever ousted from Sicily. Accession to the Sicilian throne Upon, Charles I of Naples's accession to the Sicilian and Naples thrones in 1266, after Charles killed Conrad's younger brother, Manfred at the Battle of Benevento. Charles d'Anjou become King of Naples and Sicily. Conrad III didn't recognize the French-born Charles I. But when the and War of the Sicilian Vespers on 1282. The Ghibellines lords wanted Conrad III to overthrow French-born monarch Charles I d'Anjou. However, Conrad declared war against Naples and Sicily. It took two years, when Charles I died on January 1285. Conrad was become King of Sicily by the Ghibellines lords on 2 March 1285. Conrad traveled from Frankfurt to Palermo and was crowned on 18 March 1285. As well Charles's son become King of Naples. But, his popularity in Sicily and Naples was well-maintained between Sicilian and Naples citizens and lords with their new monarch, Conrad III. Unlike his father, Conrad's relationship with it's citizen are unique. Later reign Returned to Nuremberg and War with Aragon Despite his retreat into Calabria, Charles remained in a strong position. His nephew, Philip III of France, was devoted to him and Pope Martin regarded the rebellion as an affront both to French interests and his own rights as suzerain of the kingdom. Both sides temporized; the expense of a long war might be disastrous for both, and Peter and Charles arranged for a judicial duel, with a hundred knights apiece, on 1 June 1283 at Bordeaux. Skirmishes and raids continued to occur: in January 1283, Aragonese guerillas attacked Catona and killed Count Peter I of Alençon in his hostel. In February the Aragonese crossed into Calabria to face off with Charles of Salerno. However, tensions between the Aragonese and the Sicilians had begun to rise. Both men now hoped to turn the war to their advantage, and the judicial duel turned into a farce, the two kings arriving at different times, declaring a victory over their absent opponent, and departing. Now the war escalated: Pope Martin had excommunicated Peter and proclaimed war against the Sicilians and a Crusade in January, and in March declared Peter to be deprived of his dominions. On 2 February 1284, Aragon and Valencia were officially conferred upon Charles of Valois. The war continued in Italy: while little progress had been made in Calabria, a detachment of the Aragonese fleet was blockading Malta. Charles of Salerno sent a newly raised Provençal fleet to the relief of Malta, but it was caught by the main Aragonese fleet under Roger of Lauria and destroyed in the Battle of Malta. The Aragonese were now, however, running quite short of money, and Peter was threatened by the prospect of a French attack on Aragon. King Charles planned to raise new troops and a fleet in Provence, and instructed Charles of Salerno to maintain a strict defensive posture until his return from France. However, Roger of Lauria continued to command the sea and launch harassing raids up and down the coast of Calabria, and in May 1284 he successfully blockaded Naples, basing a small squadron on the island of Nisida to do so. The Neapolitans were infuriated by the blockade, and in June Charles of Salerno armed the newly launched fleet at Naples and embarked on 5 June to destroy the blockading squadron. Evidently believing the main Aragonese fleet was raiding down the coast, he hoped to destroy the blockading squadron and return to Naples before it returned. However, Roger of Lauria had learned of his plans, and Charles found himself engulfed by superior numbers. After a short, sharp, fight, most of his fleet was captured, and he himself was taken prisoner. War with the Guelphs The war between the Guelphs and Ghibellines were rivals between the Holy Roman Empire and Pope when the Guelphs leader, Ottone de Visconti got elected "Captain of the Guelphs" on 11 January 1287, within 6 weeks, Ottone declared war with the Holy Roman Empire. Ottone was also got war with the Ghibellines. Conrad's son, Henry Otto of Sicily became the Ghibelline leader on fall of 1288 with his support of his father. Pope Nicholas IV make peace with Conrad, ending the war with the Guelphs on 4 April the following year. Adalberto Boccanegra's Uprising The Boccanegra family has been the in the twelfth century, the Geneose were granted sovereignty over the port and the Rock of Monaco. Guglielmo Boccanegra's death in 1263 brought the Geneose armies into a crimple. The overthrow of Gugliemlmo's nephew, Otto Boccanegra on 1278, which leads Adalberto Boccanegra sieze power on 1288. The outbreak with Adalberto Boccanegra's power in 1288 caused Conrad to deposed him when Adalberto was become Feudal lord of Genova a year before. The Imperial marshal Karl Johan of Köln assemble the Imperial army with Conrad III's army was about 320,000 men. When Conrad become seriously ill on 1291, but recovered in week, and just in time in the Battle of Milian, which occupied by Adalberto. Death On 2 March 1393, Conrad become seriously ill for final time, this time was fatal. He suffered pains which the outcome of an gout. Prince Henry (later Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor) was given the title the King of the Romans in 1288 and given leadership in the Imperial army until Conrad III's death. With Conrad III died of illness on 21 May 1295, at age of 56 in Basilicata, his son, Henry was still in Italy against Adalberto but Conrad's son Henry killed Adalberto in the Battle of Basilicata on 1 April 1303. His body traveled back to the Holy Roman Empire where he was buried in the Frankfurt Cathedral. Issue Ancestors See also *Kings of Germany family tree. He was related to every other king of Germany. References :1. During his reign, Conrad III was also Conrad IV as King of Germany, but the consul of the Holy Roman Empire stated that Conrad III not Conrad IV. |- |- |- Category:1239 births Category:1295 deaths Category:People from Andria Category:Kings of Sicily Category:German kings of Burgundy Category:Kings of Jerusalem Category:Dukes of Swabia Category:Holy Roman Emperors Category:Hohenstaufen Dynasty Category:Deaths from malaria Category:Roman Catholic monarchs Category:Medieval child rulers Category:People excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church Category:13th-century monarchs in Europe Category:Kings of the Romans